Category: Art

Heroes Helped by Heroes

It’s sad to say that many older comic book writers and artists end up financially strapped in their “golden years.” An organization called Heroes Initiative works to “provide a financial safety net for yesterdays creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life and an avenue back into paying work.”

One of their recent efforts involved recruiting over 80 comic book artists [and even a writer or two] to draw a custom sketch on the blank cover of a specially produced issue of Ultimate Spider-Man #100.

Drink and Draw

Artists, for the most part, live solitary lives. They usually work alone, spending long hours at the drawing board. In an effort to combat this isolation, Dave Johnson, Jeff Johnson and Dan Panosian formed the Drink & Draw Social Club. Once a week these talented artists would get together to eat, drink, draw and socialize. The idea was such a great one that more and more artists began to join in.
Soon talents like Andy MacDonald, Josh Middleton, Jim Mahfood, Lesean Thomas, Kat Von D and others began to swing by for some drawin’ and jawin’.The idea was such a natural that similar groups began to spring up around the country. Heck, even “Big” John Beatty started his “Sketch Society” last year wrapped around the same concept.Can you imagine how cool it would be to hang out in a relaxed atmosphere with these talented artists as they drew stuff that THEY wanted to see? Well, you might not be able to hang out with these talented cats, but you can see some of the cool art that their Drink and Draw sessions produced! The Drink and Draw Social Club Volume 1 is now available. Featuring over 100 pages chock full of art,! My order is in!

300: The Art of the Film / Z-View

I received my Art of 300 book today and it’s a beaut!With 300: The Art of the Film you get to go behind the scenes and see how director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) translates Frank Miller’s award-winning graphic novel to the big screen. The book includes more than 100 pages of production photos, concept art, and much, much more. What makes the deal even sweeter is that if you order using the link provided you can save over 33%!Now if the movie’s release date would only get here!

300: The Art of the Film rates an “A”

007: 002 Views – 001 Vision

 

The caricature of Daniel Craig aka “The New James Bond” is the work of Tom Richmond. Tom is perhaps best known for his artistic endeavors at Mad magazine. I’ve been following Tom’s work for some time now, and regularly check out his blog. Initially it was Tom’s art that kept me coming back, but that’s not what I’m writing about today.

Tom posted his thoughts after seeing “Casino Royale” yesterday. While I was reading Tom’s review, I kept nodding and thinking, “My thoughts EXACTLY.” I couldn’t agree more with Tom in regard to his take on “Casino Royale” and the James Bond franchise. So if you want to know what I thought about the movie, then click HERE… as an added bonus you’ll get to see a bunch of Tom’s cool art as well.

 

Scalped… a Sly Recommendation

Today I’d like to recommend Scalped, a new comic series which premieres in January. It’s a crime comic set in the “world of gambling, gunfights, G-men, Dawg Soldiers, massacres, meth labs, trashy sex, fry bread, Indian pride -”

Hey! Wait a minute. Did you say Indian pride?

Yep [and thanks for asking].

Scalped comes to us from Vertigo comics [for mature readers] and is written by Jason Aaron with art by R.M. Guera. For a preview of the issue click HERE.

The first cover is by fan favorite Jock and can be seen here. Now is it me or does the face on the Native American look a bit like Sylvester Stallone from this Herb Ritts photo? Want to see them both together? What do you think?

Truth be told, it does look like Jock used a Herb Ritts’ photo of Sly for reference, but it may have even been another photo from the same session. I can’t lay my fingers on the photo, but here’s a digital painting that John Beatty did of it.

It’d be cool if Jock was a Stallone fan… but either way, I’d still recommend Scalped.

Almost Time for Tampa

If all goes according to our plan, in two weekends [November 12th to be exact], I will join my buddies, “Big” John Beatty, John “Star Wars” Higashi, and “The James” Howell for our tri-annual trip to Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Show. That’s Tim pictured above. He’s the guy not wearing a mask.

The show is always a blast. If you’re a long-time ZONE reader, then you’ve heard me speak about the show many times before. If you’re new to these parts, then click HERE and you’ll get a preview of the fun.

Hope to see some of you at the show. I’ll be the guy looking for Stallone sketches!

Chaykin’s Blade

If you’ve been keeping up, then you know that I’m looking forward to Howard Chaykin’s art on the soon to be released Blade comic series from Marvel. Heck, you’ve probably read my post about it here and here. And since you’ve been keeping up, you probably already read this interview with Chaykin.

I guess the only thing left is to buy the comic!

 

Beatty & Carter @ the Society

Last Saturday, Big John Beatty called together the second monthly [at least so far] meeting of the Sketch Society. I first told you about Sketch Society here and posted my reports on the first and second meetings here and here. Big John has posted pics and his report of the second meeting over at his blog. I’ve also posted the quick sketch that John did [without reference] of Sly as Jack Carter.

The next Sketch Society meeting will be held in October at a date and place to be determined. One thing is for sure though, my birthday is in October and I’m going to push for the Sketch Society meeting to have a Stallone theme! ; )

Atomic Pulp and Other Meltdowns [2006]

Tonight I want to tell you about a blog run by Chris Mills. It’s called “Atomic Pulp and Other Meltdowns” and it’s definitely worth bookmarking. Chris writes about pop culture as well as occasional glimpses into his life as a struggling writer.

The fact that Chris is “struggling” speaks volumes about how hard it is to make it as a writer. You see, in 2004, Chris wrote a universally well-received one shot, Gravedigger: The Scavengers [which remains my favorite single issue comic of the last 2 years].

Chris was also the editorial director on Mickey Spillane’s Mike Danger [where he worked with Spillane and Max Allan Collins]. Chris was also the editorial director on Neil Gaiman’s Lady Justice. Chris wrote a year-long run on Leonard Nimoy’s Primortals comic series.

Chris was also the creator and editor of Noir, an illustrated crime fiction magazine that featured art and stories from some of the biggest names in both the comic and mystery fields. I could continue to list Chris‘ credits, but you’d probably prefer me to shut up so you can check out his blog.

But one more thing before I close… if you ever get the opportunity to pick up a copy of Gravedigger: The Scavengers [with art by Rick Burchett], please do. I first wrote about the one shot here and then again here.

I love this comic and would love to see more Gravedigger stories by Mills and Burchett. If after reading it, you feel the same way, please let your local comic dealer know… and it wouldn’t hurt to drop Chris a line as well!

Higashi’s Kindness Knows No Bounds


John “Johnny Star Warz” Higashi is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. In addition he has one of the most unbelieveable art collections you’ll ever see [if you click HERE].

John hits more conventions than many pros and is constantly getting new additions to his collection. The cool thing about John is despite the fact that he’s one of the most active collectors you’d ever meet, he’s a real down to earth guy. And his kindness is legendary. Last weekend he was at Baltimore Con. John took 125 artists, their relatives and friends to the Orioles vs Yankees game. Can you imagine?

So of course when Johnny SW came to Sketch Society today, he treated everyone to donuts. Yeah, it ain’t a trip to a pro baseball game, but then again Sketch Society ain’t the Baltimore Con either! – Snort –